Tech News Weekly (Audio) TNW 420: CES's Best Smart Home Tech - Some of the Coolest Tech From This Year's CES
Jan 15, 2026
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, a tech journalist from The Verge specializing in smart home innovations, gives a vibrant overview of the coolest tech at CES, including robotic pets and intelligent devices. She emphasizes the rise of smart home standards and showcases notable products like a hands-free smart lock and a stair-climbing robot vacuum. Meanwhile, Kerry Wan from ZDNet shares his captivating experience watching an NBA game using the Apple Vision Pro, discussing the immersive visuals and potential drawbacks of headset viewing.
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Standards Made Smart Home Practical
- Matter and other standards finally let manufacturers build interoperable smart-home products that actually work together.
- Jennifer Pattison Tuohy says this foundation enabled useful, practical smart-home innovations at CES instead of pie-in-the-sky ideas.
Adaptive Temperature Uses Many Sensors
- Apple Home's adaptive temperature feature can aggregate any compatible sensors to change heating and cooling by occupancy.
- Jennifer says this demonstrates how platform features can layer value on standardized device data.
Ambient Intelligence Is Approaching
- Platforms will push ambient intelligence and generative-AI voice assistants into homes as sensors and standards improve.
- Jennifer predicts more useful 'hunches' and automated actions once the device foundation is solid.